You'll Always Be There to Protect Me, Huh?
by papermoon17
Summary: Miki has a couple secrets. Secrets that could ruin the friendship between her and Zuko. Will Zuko find out what they are? And if he does, what will he do? - ZukoxOC ZukoOC - Rated T just in case  DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

You'll Always Be There to Protect Me, Huh?

Chapter One

I'm sitting in a prison cell on board a ship. I hear footsteps coming my way, so I stand up. When the person reaches my cell, I glare at him. His golden eyes are glaring right back.

"What the hell, Zuko! I thought we were friends!"

"Where is the Avatar?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying! You're friends with him, aren't you?"

"What's it to you?"

"You know very well why I'm searching for him."

That is true.

"So where is he?"

"Why?" My voice saddens. "Why are you doing this to me?" I whisper.

"Zuko?"

Uncle Iroh, oh thank God.

"What, Uncle?"

"I don't think now is the best time to be questioning her."

"And why is that?"

"Why don't you ask Miki?"

"Why won't you answer me?" Zuko directs that towards me.

"Zuko, I—I can't say."

"Why not?" His temper flares. "Why can't you?"

A silent tear rolls down my cheek. I couldn't tell him. If he still cares about me, it would hurt him. I just couldn't do that to him. "Zuko, please."

Zuko grunts in frustration and leaves.

"Give him some time."

"Uncle Iroh?"

He just smiles and follows Zuko.

"Zuko, what happened to you?" I whisper. More tears fall and I collapse to my knees.

An hour later, I try to fall asleep. But the thing is, it's so cold that I have goose bumps on my exposed skin. And, unfortunately, my skin is turning kind of bluish. I'm lying down on what they call a 'bed'. The bed is hard and I keep tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. I feel a breeze pass by and I shiver. I don't have any blankets, and I only have one flat pillow.

I hear some footsteps. When the footsteps stop, I hear a sigh, then keys rattle. I open my eyes a little bit. The door swings open. _Zuko?_ He walks over to me and cuts the rope that's binding my wrists.

"What are you doing?" I ask him in a low whisper.

He doesn't answer back. He just picks me up and carries me out of the cell. I snuggle against his chest, trying to get warmer.

Soon we reach a room. He sets me down on the bed and pulls the covers over me. I don't complain or ask why. He turns to leave but I grab his hand.

"Don't go."

He gives me a small smile and takes his armour off. He climbs onto the bed as I slide over. As soon as he wraps his arm around me, I fall asleep.

.:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:.

"MIKI!"

My eyes snap open and I gasp for air. _What a nightmare._

"Miki?"

I look up and see Zuko hovering over me, panic written all over his face. "What?" I ask, a little out of breath.

"You—you stopped breathing."

I pause for a second. "Can I get some air? Fresh air?"

Zuko gets up. "Yeah, but wear this." He rummages through his drawers until he pulls out a black long-sleeved shirt.

I mumble, "Thanks," and head out the door, shirt in hand. I go straight for the deck. Once I get there, I put the shirt on. "Why do I have to do this?" I say to myself.

"I don't know. Why do you?"

I turn around. "Uncle Iroh!"

He walks up to me and looks out at the sea. "Why marry my brother?" he asks.

"You know?" I gulp. _So if Iroh knows, does Zuko?_

Iroh just nods.

I sigh and say, "I didn't really have a choice."

"Everyone has a choice."

I look at him, then back to the ocean. "Not unless it's a life or death situation."

"Could you please expand on that?"

I sigh again. I don't really want to tell anyone, but I think I can trust Iroh. After all, he treated me like one of his own. "My family and my village were planning to attack the Fire Lord. Seeing that my family was some of the strongest fire benders, the Fire Lord saw us as a threat. I received a letter from him. It said that I should convince my family and village to stop planning. The thing is, I have to marry him. I don't know why I have to marry him, but…" I trail off, thinking about that. My expression saddens as I remember. "I have to marry him so he won't kill my family." Tears start running down my face. "It wouldn't be fair. A whole army against a small village? They would all die!"

"Is that true?"

My eyes widen. It wasn't Uncle Iroh who spoke. I spin around. "Zuko…" I could see his anger boiling up inside of him. He starts punching fireballs all around like he's fighting an invisible opponent.

Fear becomes the dominant feeling. I run up to him and hug him from behind. "Please stop. Please stop."

Zuko takes a deep breath and pulls my arms off his waist. He glares at me over his shoulder and walks away.

I watch him leave. Uncle Iroh walks over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. I look down. _Why are things so complicated?_

After what happened early this morning, Iroh invited me to have some tea with him. I smiled and said, "Yes." I'm usually a person who doesn't like tea, but I just wanted someone to talk to.

I'm back on deck, lingering on what Uncle Iroh had said.

"Just give it some time. Things will work out."

I look up to the sky at the sun. I'm guessing it's around noon. Something catches my eye. I glance at the control tower. Zuko is losing his temper again. _How did he become like this?_

**Flashback**

I was watching Zuko firebend. It was one of my daily activities. Whenever he learned something new, he would run over to my village to show me. The only problem was that we would meet secretly at night. My family didn't approve of me being friends with someone who was in the royal family.

"Did you see that, Miki?" and excited six year old Zuko asked.

"Sure did. That was awesome!"

**End Flashback**

**Flashback**

"Hey, Miki?"

"Yeah, Zuko?"

"How come you can't firebend?"

We were both nine and I hadn't shown any signs that I was a firebender. "I'm not quite sure really."

Zuko grinned. "Well I'll always be there to protect you."

"Really?"

He nodded and held out his pinky. "Pinky promise."

I smiled and locked my pinky with his. "Pinky promise."

**End Flashback**

**Flashback**

I stared in shock as Zuko's opponent turned around. He had to face his own father. He told me about what happened in the meeting, but we both weren't expecting to see his father.

I gasped when the Fire Lord attacked Zuko. His own son! "Zuko!" I cried out. I started to run towards him but someone had pulled me back. I struggled to get out of the person's grasp. "Zuko!"

"Don't, Miki. Or you'll regret it," someone whispered in my ear.

"Zuko…" I stopped moving as tears started falling down my face.

**End Flashback**

"Miki, why are you crying?"

I look at Uncle Iroh. I'm crying? I wipe my eyes and, sure enough, I'm crying. "It's nothing."

"It doesn't look like it's nothing."

I shake my head. "I don't want to talk about it."

Iroh nods his head in understanding. "Well, would you like to join me for tea?"

"Sure."

-:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,.

I scream. My eyes shoot open. _It was just a dream. It was just a dream._ I keep repeating that to myself.

A couple minutes later there's a knock on my door.

"Miki? Can I come in?"

I shakily get off the bed and stumble over to the door. I crack the door open a little bit to see who it is. "Iroh?"

"Miki, is everything okay?"

I open the door so Iroh could come in. After that, I walk to my bed. As I sit down, I fiddle with my fingers and say, "He died."

"Who died?"

"The stupid prince," I mutter.

"Literally or metaphorically speaking?"

I groan and fall back on the bed. "Iroh, it was a dream I had."

"Ah. I see. Is that why you screamed?"

"That was out loud?" I ask. I start panicking. Who else heard my scream?

"Yes."

"That was a rhetorical question."

I get back into a sitting position. I have this strange feeling that someone was listening in on our conversation.

"Would you like to tell me about your dream?"

I glance at the open door. I don't want to take any chances of someone else listening in, so I make my way towards the door and shut it.

"I didn't know I was dreaming," I begin. "I woke up inside my dream because I heard shouting from the deck."


	2. Chapter 2

You'll Always Be There to Protect Me, Huh?

Chapter Two

**Dream**

_Why are people shouting at this time of night? Did Zuko's crew finally have enough and are finally rebelling?_ That last thought makes me smirk. This I have to see.

I swing my legs over the side of my bed and stretch. When I reach the bottom of the steps, I freak out. The stairs have never looked so tall before. I start up the stairs, talking them one step at a time. But then I start getting excited and begin taking the steps two at a time. Pretty soon I'm running up the steps. The deck never gets closer.

Soon I see two figures at the top.

"There she is! Grab her!" one man says, pointing at me.

_What?_ As soon as it clicks in my mind, I'm caught. I was bewildered. How did they get here so fast? It couldn't have been more than two seconds.

When I reach the deck, terror strikes me. Fire is burning everywhere. My first instinct is to look for Zuko. I see him to my left fighting someone. From the angle I'm at, I couldn't tell who he was fighting.

"Don't stop walking. Keep moving."

I glare at the person holding my wrists, but keep walking nonetheless. I don't want to upset a firebender. Some of them have major tempers. _Sounds like someone I know…_

I keep looking over to see if I could figure out who Zuko's opponent was. Once I'm near the edge of the boat, I see his enemy's face. _Azula._ I see some lightning coming from her fingertips. Then I realize what she's about to do. "Zuko… Zuko!"

Azula shoots the lightning right through his chest.

"Zuko! No!" I struggle to get out of the guards' grasp. I elbow them, kick them. I even head butt them. I'm doing anything I could so I could run over to Zuko. "Zuko!"

I watch him fall to the ground. Everything seems like it's going in slow motion. As he hits the ground, his face turns towards me. He looks even paler than he usually is. His eyes have no brightness to them. His blood is pooling around him. I start yelling, or at least I thought I did. I couldn't find my voice.

**End Dream**

"And then I screamed."

Somehow during my retelling I sat on the floor.

I look to my right at Uncle Iroh who is sitting right next to me. "Why are you smiling? It was horrifying!"

"I'm sure it was."

He's still smiling. _Damn it, Iroh, this is serious!_

"You know, having some tea will help take your mind off it. It's very relaxing."

_Okay, what is up with Iroh and tea?_ "Not now, Iroh."

"Suit yourself."

With that said, he stands up and exits my room. Then it dawns on me. I know the reason why he was smiling. My face flushes a vibrant shade of red.

"Red's your colour."

I look up. "Zu—Zuko?" He didn't hear the whole thing, did he? "Were you, uh… did you hear anything?"

"Hear what?"

_Why is he smirking?_ "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face!" I notice Zuko frown. Uh, oh. "I—I didn't, um…" _Please don't lose your temper. Please don't lose your temper._

He just shakes his head and leaves my doorway. I breathe a sigh of relief. I slowly get up and walk over to the dresser. I pull out a black sweater and bring it over my head. As I look in the mirror hanging on the closet door, I notice that it's a little baggy. _Meh, oh well._

I decide to get out of my room and explore the ship. _Maybe I should talk to Iroh. Maybe having some tea will be relaxing._

I somehow end up in the control tower. I look up from the ground and see Uncle Iroh. "Iroh?"

"Yes, Miki?"

"I changed my mind about the tea."

"Okay. Let me finish my game…"

I walk over and stand next to the captain. I look out the window and catch sight of Zuko practicing his firebending. All of a sudden I think back to the letter. _Now he knows my secret. What would have happened if he never found out?_ I sigh and turn away from the window. Then I stumble to my left.

"Iroh? Why are we changing course?"

Iroh never gets the chance to respond.

Zuko bursts into the room. "What is the meaning of this mutiny? No one told you to change course."

"Actually, someone did."

Zuko and I both look at Iroh.

"I assure you that it is of utmost importance, Prince Zuko."

"Is it something to do with the Avatar?"

I roll my eyes. _He's never going to give up, is he?_

"It's even more urgent. It seems I," Iroh pauses and sighs. "I've lost my lotus tile." Uncle Iroh moves one of the pieces on the board.

When I look at Zuko, he looks confused. It even shows in his voice when he says, "Lotus tile?"

"For my Pai Sho game. Most people think the lotus tile insignificant. But it is essential for the unusual strategy that I employ."

"You changed our course for a stupid lotus tile?"

"See, you, like most people, underestimate its value. Just give me ten minutes to check the merchants at this port of call. Hopefully, they'll have the lotus tile in stock and I can get on with my life."

I warily look at Zuko. Just by a quick glance you can tell he's trying not to lose his temper. I jump away from Zuko when he breathes fire.

"I'm lucky to have such an understanding nephew."

.:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:. .:~:.

When we got to the port, I ran off the ship. I think I might have been getting a little seasick. The nice steady ground felt great under my feet.

I walk around on my own for a little bit, but I stop in my tracks. _Is that orange and yellow clothing?_ "Is that—"

"What are you looking at?"

I nearly jump out of my skin. I turn my head to face Zuko. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing."

"You know, you're a terrible liar."

I sigh and say, "I know."

It wasn't too long before Uncle Iroh joined us.

"I have checked all the shops on this pier. Not a lotus tile in the entire marketplace."

Zuko looks at Iroh as if he wants to twist his head off. "Well it's good to know that this trip was a waste of time for _everyone_!"

Woah. Talk about sudden mood change.

"Quite the contrary. The only thing better than finding something you're looking for, is finding something you weren't looking for at a great bargain!"

"You bought a tsungi horn?"

"For music night on the ship. Now, if we only had some woodwinds."

After Iroh walks away, I grab Zuko's wrist before he walks off as well. "You have music night?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"It's stupid."

I narrow my eyes at him and let go of his wrist. _Way to crush my spirits._

I watch him walk away and follow soon after. I can see Iroh now. He turns around and points at a ship.

"Oh, this place looks promising."

I take one look at the ship and tell Zuko, "No."

"No, what?"

"I'm not going on that ship."

He smirks. "Why not?"

I glare at him. I bet he thinks I'm scared. "Because land is better than the sea. I'm sick of being on boats."

Zuko just grabs my upper arm and drags me towards the boat.

"Zu—Zuko, what are you doing?"

"I'm not going to suffer alone."

When we get on the boat, I see Iroh eyeing a monkey statue.

"Oh, that is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?"

I turn around when I hear one of the people on the boat speak.

"We lost the water tribe girl and the little bald monk she was traveling with."

Zuko seems to be interested in what this guy is saying. "This monk. Did he have an arrow on his head?"

I look back at Iroh and yelp. I hide my face in Zuko's arm. Iroh was imitating the monkey statue. All his teeth were showing in a big grin like thing. It scared me to say the least.

-:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,. -:..,.

I was standing a ways away from Zuko and the pirate captain. I didn't want anything to do with this. I watch them make small talk.

"Ugh. Stupid waterbending scroll!"

Oh, no. Don't tell me that was Katara.

We soon went on land. When I get off the boat, I see Katara tied to a tree.

"Tell me where he is and I won't hurt you or your brother."

_Still hunting for the Avatar? Jeez, Zuko. I thought you would've given up by now._

Katara replies to his comment, "Go jump in the river."

"Try to understand. I'm trying to restore something I've lost. My honour. Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you've lost."

"My mother's necklace! How did you get that?"

Okay, Zuko. That's low. Even for you.

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering." Then Zuko tries being tough when he says, "Tell me where he is."

"No!"

"Enough of this necklace garbage. You promised the scroll!"

I glance at the pirate captain who spoke.

"I wonder how much money this is worth."

I turn to Zuko who has the waterbending scroll over fire. _Don't do it, Zuko._

All the pirates have looks of fear on their faces. "No!"

Zuko gets this evil smile on his face as he says, "A lot apparently. Now you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."

The captain growls, "Fine."

I meet Katara's eyes and mouth, "Where are they?"

I watch her eyes move left. When no one is looking, I make my way that way.

I hear someone talking. "Oh, so I'm not good enough to kidnap?"

I run towards that voice. "Sokka!"

"Miki? What are you doing here?"

"Long story. Where's Aang?"

"He just got kidnapped."

I start heading back to the rendezvous, but stop when Sokka isn't following. "Are you going to help—Sokka!" I gasp when I see Sokka captured in a net. After that, I run as fast as I can back to the meeting place.

When I get there, I see Sokka and Aang in ropes. I stand behind the Fire Nation soldiers near Katara and Uncle Iroh.

I hear Zuko say, "Nice work." I watch him walk towards the pirates. I eye him suspiciously. _Is he seriously going to hand the scroll over?_

"Aang this is all my fault."

I glance at Katara, then to Aang to see his response.

"No, Katara. It isn't."

"Yeah, it kind of is."

I scold Iroh in my head for saying that.

Zuko interrupts my thoughts by saying, "Give me the boy."

The pirate captain then growls, "You give us the scroll."

_Oh, boy. Here we go._

"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment?"

I gape at Sokka. Did he seriously just reveal Aang's identity?

Zuko says, "Don't listen to him. He's just trying to turn us against each other."

The pirate captain turns to Aang and asks Sokka, "Your friend is the Avatar?"

Sokka pops up next to the captain and confirms, "Yep. He sure is. And I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market than that fancy scroll."

"Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!"

I whisper to Iroh, "Do you think he'll ever learn to control his temper?"

When Iroh shrugs, I let out a heavy sigh. I look up when I hear Aang talk.

"Yeah, Sokka. You really should shut your mouth."

"I'm just saying. It's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life."

"Sokka! Shut up!" I whisper harshly. I turn to Katara and tell her, "He's your brother. Do something!"

Katara looks like she's about to kill Sokka.

"Keep the scroll. We could buy a hundred with the reward we could get from the kid."

I glance from the pirates to the prince to see his reaction.

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me."

_Ooo, scary, Zuko. Really scary, _I say sarcastically in my mind. Then I see Zuko and some of the guards jump up and kick fire towards the group of pirates. All of a sudden, a pirate with long brown hair comes rushing forward with… smoke bombs? At the last minute I see him pull out a couple swords.

I run over to Katara to try to untie her from the tree trunk. "Ugh. Stupid rope!" I look up and see Momo coming down from the tree. "Momo! Can you break the rope?"

He chirps and bites down on the rope.

"Thanks, Momo." Katara and I say at the same time.

Katara continues with, "I owe you a bushel of apples." She then runs off.

_Look what you started, Zuko._ I run off in the direction Katara went in, hoping I could help her in some way.

All of a sudden I hear someone yell a long, "Run!"

I immediately head in that direction. Through the smoke, I can see a couple figures by a boat. When I come out of the smoke, I notice that those two people are Katara and Aang. I stand next to Sokka. "Planning your escape."

"Yeah, something like that."

I watch the two waterbending. _Their moves are so fluid. So graceful._

Then Katara snaps me out of my thoughts when she yells, "Everybody in!"

Aang turns to me and asks, "Miki, are you coming?"

I take a peek behind me and see Zuko fighting the captain. This is my chance to escape, but why don't I want to leave? I look back at Aang and shake my head. "Sorry, Aang. I'm not coming." I pause and then smile. "But I do wish you best of luck."

He just nods and climbs on board the ship.

I walk over to Katara and say, "I wish you luck, too." Then I hug her.

She hugs back as she says, "Thank you." She releases me and glances back at Zuko. "Are you sure you want to stay with him?"

I playfully punch the young waterbender on the arm. "What? You think I can't handle him?" I laugh. "It'll be fine. I promise."

She smiles and opens her mouth to say something, but Sokka interrupts. "We should probably get going now."

"Yeah, you probably should. I'll see you guys around, okay?"

Katara gives me one last hug and then follows her brother up the ladder. I just stand there, watching them sail away. All of a sudden I hear laughing and then a loud, "Hey!" I look back at Zuko, then follow his gaze. _Serves him right._ The pirates are now on Zuko's ship laughing at him. I glare at Zuko. _Stupid prince. He doesn't even think things through, does he?_ I watch Zuko and Uncle Iroh run towards the sailing boats. I reluctantly start running with them. When I see their figures nearing, I slow down. I stop next to Iroh who is panting heavily. Then he smiles.

"Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!"

I take one look at Zuko and back away slowly, afraid he would firebend. Instead, he snatches the tile out of his uncle's hand and throws it over the waterfall.

"Zuko. You do know that now the tile is gone, we're going to have to go looking for a new one?"

He just gives me a glare over his shoulder.

I hold my hands up and tell him, "I'm just saying."


End file.
